Grief
by N17E2000
Summary: Goku meets his father, but not in the way you'd expect. A prequel (of sorts) to Heaven and Hell.
1. Chapter 1

The calm of a dark night, irrevocably shattered by the roar of a giant ape towering over the trees in this remote mountain region, his dark body outlined by the light of the full moon above him.

"Goku! Goku stop!" An elderly man ran after the monster, who was tearing up trees and as he made a destructive path towards a small village at the foot of the mountains.

"Listen to me! Goku it's me, your grandpa! Stop this at once! GOKU!"

The beast turned in the direction of the man, his large, empty eyes seeming to focus on the man trying desperately to reign him in.

"Goku! Goku, can you hear me? It's grandpa!"

The beast roared.

"Goku?"

* * *

As the judge of souls and the undisputed ruler of the check-in station between the Mortal World and Otherworld, King Yemma rarely had a bad day. Why would he? He had a fleet of little blue demons at his beck and call to do the grunt work required, and he was, by default, the strongest being in this in-between place. And if he came across a stronger being who also happened to be a bit of a troublemaker, he simply stripped the little bastard of its physical body and sent it straight to Hell where it belonged.

So King Yemma rarely had a bad day, insomuch as a 'days' existed here. This, however, was becoming a bad day.

"This is extremely irregular," he grumbled at the short, slim man standing in front of him. "The man you're referring to hasn't even merited keeping his physical body, let alone being allowed to return to the mortal realm!"

"I know it is irregular, King Yemma," the Supreme Kai replied, a smug smile on his face. "I am not suggesting that we make this a regular occurrence. I simply need the man for an important task in the mortal world."

"Why him though?" King Yemma asked, trying to force his face into a passive expression. He rarely came across beings who outranked him at the check-out station, and wasn't used to being in a submissive position. "Is there no one else you could choose? I mean, this guy hasn't done a good thing in his life!"

"Come now, surely he must have done a few good deeds?"

"Nothing truly selfless," King Yemma muttered.

"Regardless, I've made my decision. Now enough of this delay." The Supreme Kai glared at the large man, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "Bring the man over at once. I have much I must explain to him before he can complete this task."

* * *

Bardock was extremely confused and disoriented. His soul had been wandering the depths of Hell barely aware of itself, and then, suddenly, it wasn't.

He stared down at himself, the body he was so intimately familiar with wrapped in the battle uniform he'd been wearing for more years than he could count. If it hadn't been for the strange place he was in and the large, horned, red-faced man looming unhappily over him, he would have thought that the years he'd spent in Hell and his face-off with Frieza had all been some bizarre dream.

But there was a large, horned, red-faced and strangely familiar man looming over him, clearly displeased with him, although over what Bardock had no idea. He'd never had much of an imagination anyway, and his current circumstances were putting a strain on his mental faculties as it was.

"Ah!"

Bardock turned towards the voice to find a slim man with pale purple skin, white hair, pointy ears and a very self-satisfied look on his face.

"So you're Bardock. Well, there certainly is a resemblance."

Bardock glared at the man, unconsciously falling into a defensive stance. "Who are you? And what is this place?"

"I'll get right to the point. I am the Supreme Kai, which means that I oversee the entire universe, including Otherworld."

 _"What?"_

"You had," the Supreme Kai continued, ignoring Bardock's wide-eyed expression and obvious confusion, "in the mortal realm, an infant son named Kakarot. Prior to your death, you saw him in visions of the future, and it was those visions that encouraged you to stand up against Frieza in the hours and minutes before your death and that of your entire race at his hands. Your son escaped by a miracle, and is living on the planet Earth with an elderly man who cares for him. Or at least he did," the Supreme Kai tilted his head a little, "until about one hour ago.

"Your son was exposed to the full moon and underwent the transformation unique to your people. In his rampage, he killed his caretaker and destroyed his house. This is where you come in." The Supreme Kai took several steps forward, closing the space between him and the stunned Bardock. "Your son is now eight years old. I fear what may happen to him if he wakes to see the carnage he has caused, and it is in the best interests of his planet and the universe as a whole that he remain the innocent, unscarred boy he is now.

"You will be sent to Earth, where you will bury the old man and clean up the wreckage of your son's house. In this way you will repay your son and his caretaker, and you will ensure the future of the Earth and the galaxy. Then you will return to Hell."

"I…I don't understand." There was, in fact, _a lot_ Bardock didn't understand, including what exactly this strange person meant when he said he oversaw the entire universe, but he decided to focus on the thing that was bothering him most. "Why me?"

The Supreme Kai shrugged, a move that looked strangely odd on his form. "I thought you would appreciate this opportunity. Do you not wish to see your son?"

Bardock opened his mouth but found no words. He had never been a good father, he knew that much. Even on those rare occasions when he and Raditz had been on-planet together, the boy had made him uncomfortable. The only thing he could think of to do with him was train, but Raditz had always seemed to want to talk and ask questions, _personal_ questions, and the boy was infuriatingly weak. It was too late now to salvage his relationship with Raditz, but if Kakarot needed help, needed him so that he could become the man who would kill Frieza and avenge his race…

He took a deep breath. "So how do I do this?"

"It's very simple," the Supreme Kai said, smiling mischievously. "But first, your outfit is entirely inappropriate for this task." With that he snapped his fingers, and Bardock found himself in a loose-fitting white shirt with a blue tunic and matching loose pants, and, for some reason, little round earrings.

* * *

In the blink of an eye, Bardock found himself in an unfamiliar forest that had clearly seen some action. The Supreme Kai must have transported him here by some kind of magic, he reasoned to himself as he looked around at the destruction. _Yep,_ he thought, smirking, _this is definitely the work of an Oozaru._

The Supreme Kai had been very accurate with his transportation. Just a few feet from where Bardock had found himself lay a broken and very dead body.

Carefully, the Saiyan lifted the body of the man who had cared for his son, turning it over to see his face. He looked very like a Saiyan, and if the creatures here were anything like Saiyans this man must be a hundred years old. _At least._ His face, although pretty badly mangled, still revealed deep wrinkles and a white, bushy mustache and beard.

Bardock paused. He'd seen a lot of dead bodies in his life, many in worse shape than this. But this was different. It was like seeing his crew's bodies on that gods-forsaken planet they were ambushed in, or even Gine, that one time when he'd been sure she hadn't survived, and yet he hadn't even known the man.

Gently he carried the body away from the scene of the crime. He flew over the landscape until he found a place not too far away that was calm and peaceful. Landing slowly and lowering the body respectfully to the ground, Bardock began to dig a grave for the only person who'd ever been a parent to his son.

Digging with his bare hands took some time, but Bardock relished the feeling of his muscles working, the wind gently blowing through his hair and against his skin, drying the sweat that was forming on his brow. It was as though he hadn't died at all, that he was still the (fairly) young, strong, handsome man he'd always been.

After he had buried the elderly man, carefully patting the dirt over him and saying a small prayer for his soul, Bardock made his way back to the clearing where his son's house had once stood.

Clearly the boy had stepped on it. All that was left were some planks of wood and some piles of what was probably clothing and sheets.

Bardock rounded the ruins with a frown on his face. He was no construction worker. Vegeta could get some pretty nasty sandstorms and he'd helped fix a few holes and such in his day, but he had no idea where to start when it came to building a house from scratch.

He scratched his head. _Well, it's not like I have to build the kid a palace. Four walls and a roof, that can't be too hard._

Bardock was rummaging through the remains for anything salvageable when a small voice startled him.

"Hey mister!"

Bardock turned to find a small, naked boy with a tail and a very familiar hairstyle staring at him with dark, questioning eyes.

"What happened? Where's my grandpa?" The boy looked around him at what had once been his home, scared and confused.

Bardock stood up slowly. The clothes provided by the Supreme Kai, presumably to give a good impression during this encounter, were now covered in dirt. "Well…," he began, trying to remember the stuff Gine had said to him about speaking to children patiently and nicely…

"What's that thing on your head?" Kakarot pointed.

"What?" Bardock tried to look up at what his son was pointing at, tilting his head this way and that to try and get a look. He ran a hand over his head but didn't feel anything. "Um…"

"It's real nice. You must be important. Do you know who did this to my house?"

"Well, yes," Bardock began. If his years working under Frieza had taught him anything, it was how to construct a believable lie. "I was sent by…," – _damn that purple freak, he couldn't tell me what the old man's name was?! –_ "by your, uh, father."

"I don't have a father," Kakarot said matter-of-factly.

Bardock tried not to wince. "The old man," he prompted.

"Grandpa? He sent you?"

"Yes." _That does make more sense._ "He sent me to you because, well, he's dead," he said, a little more bluntly than he probably should have. But why beat about the bush? The boy had to know sometime.

Kakarot's eyes filled with tears, his lower lip trembling. "Wha…what do you mean?"

Bardock sighed. They really should have gotten Gine to do this. He wasn't made for this kind of thing. "Your house was attacked last night."

"Huh? Who attacked it? Was it you?" A fire suddenly sparked in the boy's eyes, and Bardock felt a surge of pride fill him. "Did you hurt my grandpa?!" Kakarot yelled, crouching into a fighting stance. "I'll make you pay!"

"No child, it wasn't me. I just told you, your grandpa sent me to help you. Your house was attacked by a, uh, giant monster." It occurred to Bardock that without the proper training, which he clearly wasn't going to get here, his son would continue to be a monster well into his adulthood.

"Oh!" Kakarot straightened up again. "You mean the monster that comes out at the full moon? Grandpa warned me about him." _Apparently he didn't warn you well enough,_ Bardock thought to himself. Then the boy glared at him. "Are you sure it wasn't you?"

"I _told_ you, your grandpa sent me!"

"You didn't even know he was my grandpa!" Kakarot pointed out.

"I, uh, got confused."

"Oh, that's okay then." The boy gave him a small smile. "I get confused too sometimes." Then the smile disappeared and the little boy flopped to the ground. "Does this mean Grandpa's gone?"

"Yes."

"I'll never get to see him again?"

"Um, yes."

Kakarot began to cry, covering his face with his arms as his heartbroken sobs echoed against the mountains. "Grandpa!" he wailed, "Grandpa, come back!"

Bardock felt his chest tighten at the pitiful sight. Such wailing was unbefitting of a Saiyan, but the boy was already the last of a dead people. Was he fated to spend his life entirely alone?

 _No,_ he thought, _no, remember, there was a girl with him, I saw her. He'll be just fine, and he'll be stronger than this._

 _He has to be._

Bardock approached his weeping son and got down on his knees in front of him. Placing his hands on the child's bare shoulders, he said in as gentle a tone as he could muster, "Stop crying boy. You have to be strong now. Your grandfather told me," he added in a fit of inspiration, "that he wants you to be strong."

Kakarot lifted his tear-streaked face slowly. "He did?"

"Yes. Now," Bardock stood up, offering a hand to his son, "wipe your tears and help me fix up your house."

"Okay," Kakarot said as he stood up, his small, soft hand nestled in his father's rough, calloused one. "I'm gonna be strong just like Grandpa!"

Bardock grinned at him. His voice was still shaky, but Bardock could see he would be fine. "Good. First though, let's see if we can find you some clothes."


	2. Chapter 2

Bardock sighed deeply as he lowered himself to the ground. It was time for a break.

He ran a white-sleeved arm across his sweaty brow, then looked down to inspect himself. This outfit was a goner. Then he cast a glance over to his son, who was moping in the dirt a few feet away.

Bardock huffed. He was no stranger to grief. His own father had died when he was sixteen, leaving him to provide for his mother and infant brother. They hadn't been particularly well-off to begin with, but when his father died money became the driving force in his life, pushing him to work harder and get stronger until he became the youngest crew leader in the history of Saiyan "cooperation" with the Cold Empire.

Bardock shot his son a dirty look. The kid had it easy by comparison. If nothing else, at least he only had to worry about himself.

He rubbed his face again. When he arrived the sun was just beginning to rise, and now it was high in the sky and he had so far managed to erect half a wall. This wouldn't do at all. He had only one Earth day to get his son over this hump; the Supreme Kai had been very clear on that point. He'd said a lot of other things too: "you mustn't reveal your true relationship to him," "you mustn't tell him your name," "you mustn't tell him _his_ name," on and on and on – couldn't have told him how to build a stupid house, could he?

It was his own fault. They'd wasted too much time – first digging around looking for clothes that had survived the carnage, then the boy was hungry so they'd gone to a nearby river and spent a good couple hours fishing and eating, then they'd spent another few hours clearing away the debris so they'd have a foundation to work on, and that was when the boy had found one of the old man's tunics and started crying again.

Pushing himself up, Bardock brushed the dirt off his clothes and marched over to where his son was moping. He took a deep breath. Patience, patience was key. _Be nice,_ he told himself. _What would Gine do?_

"Look boy, I know you are…sad, but you're going to have to help me fix your house if you want to sleep under a roof tonight."

Kakarot sniffed pitifully. "I want Grandpa."

Bardock blinked at him. _Great, just great._ "I thought we agreed you were going to be strong for your grandfather?"

"Yes, bu…but…," Kakarot sniffed again, louder this time, "I want Grandpa! Why did he leave me?"

"He didn't _leave_ you," Bardock said, sitting down next to him. "He died." This prompted more crying.

Bardock searched frantically for something comforting to say. He'd had better conversations with Raditz! At least _he_ didn't cry all the damn time.

"Look, your grandfather's not really gone."

Saiyans had some interesting, and ultimately wrong, ideas about the afterlife. Not that they believed in in an _afterlife,_ but they believed that when you died and were buried, your essence – that special something that gave you a unique scent and identity and _feel,_ what humans would call a soul – seeped into the soil around you, infusing the surrounding landscape with that essence. If you died in battle, so much the better: your strength would be the first thing to be absorbed into the earth, making everything around it, including the people born on it, stronger and more powerful.

Bardock hadn't been very convinced of this theory since his father had died, and clearly Saiyans had been seriously misinformed about life after death, but if it would get the kid to stop crying it was worth a shot.

Sure enough, Kakarot wiped his tears. "He's not? Wh…where is he?"

"He's here," Bardock waved a hand vaguely over the landscape. "In…the area…"

Kakarot scrambled to his feet. "Where? Grandpa? Grandpa!"

Bardock watched as his son shot from one place to the next, frantically calling out for his grandfather. The boy had taken him a little more literally than he'd anticipated, and Bardock didn't know what he would do if the boy started bawling again once he realized that his grandfather wasn't here after all.

Struck by inspiration, Bardock jumped to his feet and rushed over to the pile of debris they'd pushed out and away from where the house was supposed to stand and began furiously digging through it, trying to find something of the old man's. People did that sometimes; they would hang on to some meaningful possession of the dead as a way of keeping their essence in the house and around their family. His mother had kept his father's old boots on the mantle in their house, he remembered. Now if only he could find something in here that wasn't broken while the kid was still running around the forest looking for his dead grandfather.

A glimmer caught his eye as his burrowing dislodged something from under a pile of broken furniture. Bardock pulled at what looked like a bedsheet away from the sheen, and a small golden globe slid out from under the wood and rolled out onto the dirt.

Bardock picked up the curious object, holding it up to the sunlight and watching the rays dance off its smooth surface. It had four small stars drawn on it and was unexpectedly heavy.

He tossed it into the air, watching it with a kind of childlike glee, forgetting for a second the child whose grief he was supposed to be helping ease. The ball had an entrancing quality about it – all the better for what he wanted it for, as far as he was concerned. And it was probably the only thing of value the old man had ever owned.

"Hey Kaka…," – _damn it –_ "hey boy!" Bardock yelled out. "Boy! Come here! BOY!"

Kakarot rushed out from behind the trees, his eyes wide and earnest and darting everywhere. "Did you find him? Where is he? Grandpa?"

"Listen," Bardock said, approaching him. He bent over slowly, meeting his son's gaze. "You have to understand that your grandfather is dead, alright? He is not going to return. But," he said quickly as the boy's eyes began to fill with tears again, opening his hand to reveal the golden orb he'd found, "he left you this."

Fat tears fell from Kakarot's eyes as they focused blurrily on the object. His mouth opened slightly as he stared at it. "Uhhhh…what is it?"

"It's…something very special." Bardock wracked his mind for ideas. "It's, uh, it's very precious," he said lamely. What was he going to say? It was a golden round thing! "Your grandfather left it for you to remember him by, and there's a part of him in it."

Kakarot cupped the ball in both hands gently, his mouth making an "O" of surprise. "Really?" he whispered.

"Yes. As long as you have this, your grandfather will always be with you."

Kakarot took the ball carefully from him, bringing it up to his face to examine it carefully. "I'll take good care of you Grandpa, I promise!"

Bardock sighed heavily. This kid had even less of an imagination than he did. "Now, you really need to help me finish this house."

"Okay!" Kakarot rushed away, placing the ball gently on the ground. "Stay right here, okay Grandpa? I'll be right back!"

Later, when the sun had set and heavy clouds blanketed the night sky, Bardock stretched his sore muscles and watched his youngest son sleep peacefully in the bed he'd made for him from a few pieces of wood that had been in good shape. Things had turned out better than he'd anticipated: there were four walls and a roof, and they'd even had time to take the clothes and sheets they'd found and wash them in the river. Kakarot had been particularly excited when he found a stick in the debris, and Bardock had to admit the thing was pretty cool, given that it could extend almost indefinitely.

And now it was nighttime, and his day back in the mortal world was in its last hours.

His day with his son.

Bardock settled down on the bed he'd made, where his son now slept with the golden ball tucked against him. The boy rolled over, snoring gently, his limbs splayed out.

Bardock found himself reaching out to touch the boy, the tips of his fingers resting on his bare legs. He was warm, and soft and pudgy in that way children are, and it reminded Bardock of the first time he'd held Raditz.

Fatherhood was not something Bardock had ever aspired to. They'd started taking away children who weren't "strong enough," an arbitrary definition Bardock was now convinced was Frieza's first attempt at getting rid of the Saiyans. But Gine was always an optimist and she'd wanted children, plural, and he couldn't say no to her.

Raditz had been small and weak and vulnerable and reminded him too much of his little brother. He'd been whiny too, and needy. But he'd also been soft and warm and eager to please, and Bardock remembered now with a stab of remorse how hard he'd always been on him.

Carefully, so as not to wake the sleeping boy, Bardock lay next to his son. Their shoulders touched, and Kakarot's tail tickled his side as it twitched in his sleep. Bardock would not sleep. These last hours were too precious to waste. No, he would stay awake and watch over his little boy, envisioning the man he would one day become, the man he had seen so clearly face off against the tyrant who had shattered their world and their lives, and thank his mate and the stars and the gods and whatever else was out there that had ensured the life and health of this child.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gohan had been judged to be a pure, kind soul and was directed to heaven by one of the blue demons under King Yemma's employ.

"Here you are, sir! Enjoy your stay in heaven!"

"Thank you. Um, may I ask," Gohan reached out a hand to stop the man, who was walking away.

"Yes?"

"Well, you see, I had a little boy that I was taking care of back on Earth, and well…"

"Oh, I see," the blue man gave him a sympathetic smile. "Yes, we get a lot of this. People asking after the ones they've left behind. I don't know what to tell you, except that I'm sure someone will come along and take care of him."

"See, that's just the thing. The area we lived in is quite remote, and he really doesn't know anyone except me. I'm quite confident that he can take care of himself, but he…," Gohan paused for a moment. "Well, it's hard to explain…"

The demon leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially, "Bit of a troublemaker?"

The old man sighed. "I suppose you could say that, although it's really not his fault. He just doesn't know his own strength. And," this time it was Gohan who lowered his voice, "I mean he _really_ doesn't know."

"Hmm…" The demon examined the old man carefully, then sighed. "Tell you what, you're obviously a nice old man. If you really want to keep an eye on your boy, your best bet is Fortuneteller Baba. She's a tiny old lady, pink hair, floats around on a crystal ball. You can't miss her. She's a nasty old bat if you want my opinion, but she's from Earth too so maybe she'll do you a favor."

"Fortuneteller Baba, eh? That sounds familiar. Well, thank you very much, you've been most kind."

The demon smiled at him. Turning away, he wished him good luck.

 **A/N: Thank you to all of you who read and reviewed this little story! Merry Christmas to all those who celebrated, and stay tuned for the next and final installment of this short.**


	3. Chapter 3

When Kakarot awoke the next morning, the man with the golden halo over his head was gone.

The boy sat up, pushing the blankets away and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Yesterday had been extremely confusing for a boy whose life had been the definition of simplicity thus far.

Kakarot got out of bed, trying to organize his thoughts. Grandpa had said, a few times before, that a time would come when he wouldn't be around anymore. But Kakarot had never taken that too seriously – after all, no matter where Grandpa went, he would come back eventually. This was their house. Where else was there to go?

But then that strange man had shown up and said that Grandpa wasn't coming back _ever._ Except (and this is where it got confusing) Grandpa was also still here…

Grandpa! Gripped with a sudden panic, Kakarot lunged at the bed and began rummaging through the sheets as he remembered the golden ball that was all that was left of his grandfather. Fortunately, it had rolled up under the pillow, safe and sound.

"Grandpa!" A huge smile lit his face as he held the ball aloft in both hands. "Wow, for a second there I thought I lost you. Don't worry Grandpa, I'll take good care of you." Looking around, he saw another purple pillow laying on the bed.

"Aha! This'll work!" Grabbing it, he placed it on the small table next to the bed and carefully put his Grandpa's ball in the middle, centering the pillow with a level of care and attention to detail so uncharacteristic of him that, had his grandfather been able to see it, would have shocked the old man so badly he might have dropped dead right there.

Finally, Kakarot stepped back, admiring his work. "There!" He smiled in satisfaction. Now Grandpa would be comfortable and safe.

"I wonder where that man is. I should go find him…ooh," Kakarot groaned as his thoughts were interrupted by the rumbling of his tummy. It was time for breakfast. "Wherever he is, I hope he has food."

Kakarot never did find the man, and as the years went by his memories of the whole incident became hazy and blurred. But it was okay. He had his grandpa, and that was all that really mattered to him.

It would occur to him, that morning as he fished for his breakfast and caught sight of his reflection in the river, that the man's spiky dark hair closely resembled his own. But for all he knew, all boys had the same kind of hair.

Well, except for his grandpa. But he had always been a strange man.

* * *

Just one hour earlier, Bardock had returned to Otherworld. King Yemma was not happy to see him.

"You look terrible," the judge told him by way of greeting, glaring down at him and his dirty, torn outfit.

"Indeed."

Bardock turned to find the mysterious man, the Supreme Kai, as he said he was, floating above him with that infuriating smile on his face.

The Supreme Kai lowered himself to stand in front of Bardock. "I see you have completed your mission successfully."

Bardock gave him a curt nod. "What happens to me now?"

The Supreme Kai shrugged. "You will return to your punishment in Hell."

"That's it?"

"Did you have other expectations?"

Bardock shot the angry red man a look from the corner of his eye. He obviously couldn't make these people do him any favors, but that had never stopped him before. The warrior drew himself up to his full height. "I want to know what happened to my family."

"Really?" The Supreme Kai cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "Why?"

Bardock's gaze never wavered. "I want to know."

"Huh. Well then," he turned to King Yemma, "I'm sure you can assist us with this…"

Impossibly, King Yemma's face seemed to turn even redder. "Really, I must protest! He has done absolutely nothing to deserve special consideration…"

"Yes, yes, yes, I understand," the Supreme Kai waved a hand at him dismissively. "Now please, if you could look through your records quickly, I'm sure you want to get him back where he belongs as soon as possible."

Huffing, King Yemma reached for a stack of files piled behind him. After a few minutes of flipping through them, he pulled out several. "Here we are," he said, "the Saiyans. These family members of yours got any names?"

As Bardock gave him a list of his relatives and friends, King Yemma went through their files. All of them where in languishing in Hell, except for…

"Well, isn't this a surprise. Gine is in Heaven. Who's she to you anyway?"

Bardock glared at him, crossing his arms. "She's my mate."

King Yemma snorted skeptically. "I can't imagine what she saw in you. Now is that all?"

"My son, Raditz."

King Yemma opened what was left of the files. "There's no Raditz here."

"What does that mean?"

"It _means,_ " King Yemma huffed, "that he hasn't come by here."

Bardock's eyes lit up. "So he's still alive?!"

"Well, since you can either be in Otherworld or the Mortal Realm," King Yemma said, with the attitude of one speaking to the mentally challenged, "and he's not here, then he must still be in the Mortal Realm, meaning he's still alive. Are we clear?"

Bardock gave him a look of pure hate, while the Supreme Kai chuckled behind him. He hated being patronized at.

"Now, if we're done here…" King Yemma gave the Supreme Kai a pointed look.

The ruler sighed. "Yes, fine. King Yemma, you may take him away…"

"Wait!"

The two beings stared at Bardock curiously. The warrior braced himself for his next request. "I want to see my mate."

"Oh no!" King Yemma reared up in his chair angrily. "Absolutely not! That is completely, entirely, totally out of the question!"

Bardock turned to the Supreme Kai – he was obviously the one in charge here.

The Supreme Kai sighed heavily. "I will consider this request."

"SUPREME KAI! I MUST PROTEST…"

"King Yemma, take him away."

"But…"

"King Yemma!" In a movement so instantaneous all Bardock saw was a purple blur, the Supreme Kai was standing in midair directly in front of King Yemma's face, his voice quiet but intimidating nonetheless. "I said take him away."

King Yemma leaned back as far as he could, his eyes wide with a combination of fear and surprise. "Y-y-yes, yes Supreme Kai," he stammered.

And with that Bardock was gone.

* * *

Many Earth years afterwards, the elderly Gohan would come across a young lady hanging from a tree branch...by her tail. He would strike up a conversation with her, and tell her all about the time he'd gone out to investigate a huge crash in the middle of the forest where he'd made his home, only to find a baby boy with a tail crying near a round metal pod. The woman would tell him about her tailed people, the Saiyans.

"I always wondered if someone would come looking for him," he would say to her.

"I doubt it," she would respond. "Our whole planet was destroyed. There's no one to come for him now."

In the present, on Earth, a young blue-haired girl sat in her classroom, staring absentmindedly out the window. She sighed deeply to herself. Her life was so _boring._ She wanted to go on an adventure, see the world, meet cool people – maybe even a cute boy! She was old enough now to realize that she lived in a very sheltered world, and that there was so much else out there. She wanted to see all of it, every last village…

"Miss Bulma!"

The sharp sound of her teacher's voice snapped her out of her daydream as she stumbled to her feet. "Yes?"

"Question 12, Miss Bulma." The teacher gave her an expectant look.

"Oh." The girl glanced down at her open mathematics textbook. "Seventy-five."

The teacher gave her a pleased smile. "Very good, Miss Bulma. You may be seated."

Bulma sat down again, lowering her head to her desk as she sighed again. School was so unbelievably dull, and way too easy. If only something interesting would happen…

Meanwhile, in a town just a few miles away from Bulma's school, another blue-haired girl was sitting in a jail cell, sniffling. It was just so _unfair._ That _other_ Launch was always getting into trouble, and who was the one who ended up paying the price? Launch! Except not that Launch, her Launch…

The girl stifled a sob. She couldn't even express herself properly! All because of her! The other her!

From the corner of the cell, two larger women were whispering to each other and chuckling. They were giving her some seriously menacing looks too. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the first time she got jumped in a cell.

Well, she wasn't putting up with this! This was the other Launch's fault – she could handle it. Wiping her tears, she ran her fingers over the bench she was curled up on, bringing them up for inspection. Just as she suspected, the place clearly hadn't been dusted in _months!_ It was completely unacceptable, but it was convenient. She smacked the bench with her palms a few times, raising dust up to her face.

Ah-ah-ahCHOO!

"Alright ladies, you wanna piece of me?! Come and get it!"

* * *

On a tiny, distant island, an old man reclined in his seat, watching a brand new exercise tape.

"I tell ya," he said, addressing the turtle dozing quietly next to him, as he watched the lithe young ladies raise and lower their legs, "this is the life!"

"Is it?" The turtle raised his head. "It's rather dull, don't you think?"

"Believe me, dull is better than the alternative. I've had enough excitement to last me a lifetime!"

"Well, I think it might be a good idea to shake things up around here. I was thinking of going out to the mainland and seeing what's going on in the outside world."

"Hey!" The old man leaned forward in his chair excitedly, his sunglasses falling to the tip of his nose. "If you go out to the mainland, you could find a nice girl to bring back here! A nice, beautiful girl…" his eyes got a far-off look in them, and he began to drool slightly.

It's hard for turtles to look disgusted, but this one managed it. "On second thought, I think I'll stick around here and keep an eye on you."

The old man glared at him, settling back into his chair. "You spoilsport!"

And finally, in a distant village to the east, a little boy in monk's uniform was hiding under the trees, crying quietly to himself. Those boys were so mean to him, just because he was small and had no nose. It wasn't his fault! He didn't know why he didn't have one, he just didn't! But they said all sorts of nasty things to him, that his mother had left him at the temple because he was a freak. And then they'd all ganged up on him. He could've shown them, if they'd come at him one at a time like real fighters!

The boy rubbed at his eyes, his whimpers finally quieting as his hurt was replaced by a sense of outrage and determination. Those guys…he _would_ show them! He'd train harder than any of them, and then he'd be able to take them on all at once. He'd beat them all up!

"Oh Krillin!" The mocking sing-song was closer now, he could tell. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" Cruel laughter bounced against the trees. "Come on, you little pipsqueak," another boy called out, "we won't hurt you too bad!"

As quietly as he could manage, the boy lowered himself to his hands and knees and began to crawl deeper into the trees, hoping to escape.

Later, as one of the temple's keepers tended to his various wounds, grumbling about spoiled, overactive boys, it occurred to Krillin that he might have to find another place to train.

 **A/N: Ta-da! Thanks so much to all of you who have read this story and reviewed it. I really hope you enjoyed my version of pre-Dragonball events. The idea for this story occurred to me when I was watching the episode of Dragonball where Goku fights Fortuneteller Baba's mystery warrior, who of course turns out to be his grandfather. That episode raised a lot of questions for me. By the end of the first season of Dragonball, we know that Goku accidentally killed his grandfather when he transformed, and we know that the four-star ball was left to him by his grandfather before he died. We can assume that the dragonball was special to Gohan and so Goku treasured it as well, although why that would translate to him believing that his grandfather's soul or essence was somehow in the ball is unclear. It's possible that that's what Gohan told him, but again, when and why is unclear.**

 **The Fortuneteller Baba episode raises, for me, two questions. First, when Goku sees his grandfather, he tells him "I looked for you everywhere but I couldn't find you." Why would he look for him, if he already knew his grandfather was dead? Secondly, when Goku shows him the four-star ball and explains what it is and what it can do, Gohan says, "Oh, that old doohickey!" From his casual attitude, it seems that Gohan never attached any importance or significance to the four-star ball at all when he was alive. So why would Goku treasure it so deeply, to the point where, even after this encounter, he makes a point to grab it after Upa makes his wish before it can disperse along with the other balls? I'm working off the English anime here, so perhaps the original Japanese makes this more clear. Nevertheless, by the end of this episode it seems to me that Goku's attachment to the four-star ball is something that happened after his grandfather died, and didn't come from some kind of conversation or implication from the older man himself. But then who gave him the idea that the four-star ball was his grandfather? He says himself in the first episode that, before Bulma, he'd never met another person except his grandfather, yet it seems unlikely that he came up with the idea on his own, especially since again, his grandfather doesn't seem to attach any importance to the ball himself.**

 **Also, I couldn't get my head around the idea that poor sweet little Goku woke up one morning to his grandfather's dead (and probably broken) body and his destroyed house. It's just too cruel, and I don't think he'd been the kind-hearted, trusting young boy we all know and love if he'd gone through that experience. I also think, given Goku's deep sense of justice, that he'd probably have spent the rest of his life bent on revenge against the monster who did this, making Dragonball a drastically different show.**

 **So that's it! I hope you enjoyed the story and my little commentary. Share your thoughts in the reviews!**


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